Just finished Final Fantasy 9, for the PS1, for the second time in my life, this time on my Vita.

Spent about 65 hours on it. Mainly, I think, since I wasn't powering through like I initially intended to do. I actually let myself get distracted by all those little things, like Chocobo Hot 'n Cold, the card game, poking around the sidequests, etc.

There are bits of the game that drag. In particular the bits where you're walking around trying to solve environmental puzzles that involve walking around and poking at things until they open up, while you're fighting (through random battles) the same two sets of enemies that take too long to kill even though they're not actually much of a threat. The rest is actually pretty awesome, though.

It's a curiously dark story despite the visual style, centered around people dealing with their own mortality (in particular, those given really short lifespans). That's right: The game's theme is people dealing with the fact that they're going to die sooner or later, and how they make their lives count. This is done while fighting turn-based battles against fantasy critters. Well, it IS a Japanese game.

If you've got a hankering for old-school RPGing, I really recommend it. Especially now that you can play it portably.

Having just spent another forty or so hours on Dark Souls (god that game is addictive) and completed it with a new character, this time doing the DLC as well, I just started playing The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks.

This game's obsession with trains borders on the unhealthy. There's a whole race of wise people called Lokomos, whose defining trait seems to be that they're crippled, their life consisting of hanging around in temples while puffing around on steam-powered wheelchairs. Like, whut.

In a day or two I'm going to link to a review of the game I've been playing obsessively for the last little bit. I absolutely love every second I've put into it, except for the ones I haven't, but remembering those bits and making sure they get called out is going to the tough part.

@oldhat: Uncharted 2 is the best of the series so far. LittleBigPlanet 2 is pretty awesome. Yes, Mass Effect 2 and 3 are both very worth it.

Special recommendations: Demon's Souls, Dark Souls (both amazing games, and Dark Souls is the spiritual sequel to Demon's Souls). In fact, make sure to get them and play them fast... Some of the most interesting stuff that happens in them depends on online interactivity, and their server life isn't eternal.

Another special recommendation: Valkyria Chronicles. If you have ANY interest whatsoever in strategy games and/or RPGs, this is essential.

I would say it's worth it getting the full set of God of War games as well. The first two hold up surprisingly well for being basically just PS2 titles with a higher resolution, and the third is one of the most beautifully crafted big-budget games I've ever seen. Infamous is good, clean fun too.

I'll admit, I've played Civilisation: Revolution many, many times on my PS3, though it looks as if XCOM is replacing that one as my go-to game for when I just want to play SOMETHING for a bit.

Valkyria Chronicles is fantastic. If you've got a PS3, you should spend the $0.05 it's going for nowadays.

My review of Far Cry 3 is up. RPS mentioned the mission nagging in their review, though, and now I feel silly for having forgotten to gripe about it in mine. I can't be too harsh on it, though, because damn but I do love Far Cry 3. I'll love it a lot more when I'm playing the PC version, though. :)

Friend of mine lent me 'Sleeping Dogs' recently, after banging on about it for months until I caved in.

It's actually really rather good. Basically GTA, in Hong Kong, but with combat controls that actually work and an interesting melee combat system that has fancy combos and the ability to perform environment based attacks (like shoving someone into a giant fishtank)